The invention is in the fast-moving field of motocross and off-road racing, and more specifically pertains to the fast-moving protective clothing and accessory industry which has grown along with the sport. Originally comprised of modified hockey equipment when motocross was young, off-road protective equipment now defines its own, sophisticated industry.
Off-road racers need body protection for a number of different areas of the body. Protective equipment designed for the torso and arms must meet certain specifications in order to be acceptable to the sport. It must protect the internal organs, joints, muscles and bones from injury during the inevitable crashes and accidents that take place. Additionally, during a typical motocross race, stones are thrown by forward motorcycles against riders coming up from the rear. The ventral shield must be adequate to protect the rider from these stones. Protection against abrasion and tearing injuries must also be provided.
In addition to these basic requirements of protection, proper equipment must also permit the rider to perspire freely, it must not impede complete articulation at all joints, and it must be lightweight, sturdy, and easily removable in the event a rider is injured and must be quickly medically treated after an accident.
Vests and other protective clothing made of fabric with strategically positioned plastic plates are only slightly protective and leave dangerous voids between the plastic parts. On the other hand, vests made entirely of plastic are too rigid and awkward. The state of the art in the making of vests and other protective torso equipment therefor combines large, louvered plastic panels to cover, for example, the dorsal area, back, and arms of the rider, with a fabric lining or padding which also defines articulations between certain of the plastic parts. However, vests and other protectors have been subjected to detailed technical and ergonomic study to discover any weaknesses in the existing equipment and to enable the construction of the improved equipment detailed in this disclosure.
Typically, torso protective equipment has grown as an extension of the concept of a protective vest. Therefore, a typical torso protector comprises a vest to protect the ventral regions of the body, and a similar piece covering the dorsal areas of the torso, with the two pieces being connected together by straps over the shoulders, with there possibly being individual protectors over each shoulder.
The trouble with this design resides in the fact that insufficient protection is given to the clavicular articulation and the deltoidal muscles, and large pectoral muscles as well. This design provides excessive flexibility in the shoulder regions and insufficient resistance to crushing forces applied in the shoulder region. Additionally, in some designs there is an inherent danger to the neck from epaulettes being forced into the neck if the epaulettes are of the pivotal variety. At least one death is known to have occurred when a pivotal epaulette jammed into the rider's neck in an accident.
Other shortcomings of current designs typically include the absence of size adjustability at least for the vest portion, the absence of protection for the lower abdominal regions of the body, and the absence of arm protection that extends all the way to the end of the forearm, which is a region of the body which takes considerable abrasion and abuse during falls. The most significant shortcoming of the prior art, however, is the absence of a rigid, reinforced over-the-shoulder member which has the helmet-like capacity to distribute shock relatively evenly throughout the upper body during an accident.